The present invention relates generally to the field of childproof closures, and more particularly, is directed to reusable childproof closure which can be removed from an associated container only by employing an additional tool, such as a screwdriver.
The closure industry has been directed by governmental agencies and others to provide for adequate safety of children by designing and manufacturing closures of a type that will discourage access to container contents which may prove harmful to children. Recent government regulations promulgated for the safety of children and other consumers have increased industry efforts to design childproof closures which are simple in operation, inexpensive in production and which can be easily affixed during assembly line processing of filled containers in a variety of industries. Such industries include, among others, the pharmaceutical, petroleum, cosmetic, household, industrial cleaner, automotive and paint industries.
Numerous container closures with child resistant features have been developed by prior workers in the art and which have been designed particularly to meet or surpass the applicable Federal Regulations. Considerable time, effort and costs have been expended in the packaging and closure industries and great strides have been made with numerous acceptable designs being developed and manufactured. These prior art closures have been tested and approved in accordance with established criteria and literally millions of such closures have been manufactured and used to date. Most of the existing, approved, child resistant closures suffer from a common drawback, that is, they are all relatively more costly in manufacture and use than the already existing closures which are not particularly designed as child resistant. In the case of certain medicines and industrial products wherein repeated use is contemplated, the need exists for a simple, inexpensive, child resistant closure to thereby not increase packaging costs.